


Breath Of Fire, Nerves Of Steel

by schierlingsbecher



Category: Captain America (Movies), Captain America - All Media Types, Marvel, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Boot Camp, Bucky Barnes & Natasha Romanov Friendship, Dragon AU, Loss of Limbs, M/M, PTSD, Rating for Language, Severe Injury, Strangers to Lovers, genre typical magic, middle ages and war, references to
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-16
Updated: 2017-06-16
Packaged: 2018-11-15 00:10:47
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 13,853
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11219142
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/schierlingsbecher/pseuds/schierlingsbecher
Summary: Bucky's life hasn't been great until now. But with a dragon roommate, who uses his bathroom as his personal garden, it might be about to change for the better.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [cptnsgrs](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=cptnsgrs).



> Hey guys. This is for the Capreverse BigBang.
> 
> I was lucky to work with the lovely [cptnsgrs](http://cptnsgrs.tumblr.com/). A wonderful person, probably literal ray of sunshine, who said that they will draw more for this fic if their schedule allows it.  
> Also, my guardian angel/ beta reader [hailedloco](http://hailedloco.tumblr.com/).
> 
> To be completly honest: I am not satisfied with this piece. I wanted to include much more and wanted to weave it tighter, but for now, I can't see this anymore. Originally, I wanted to participate because I thought it would be a great way to enter this new ship, but I feel like this whole thiing is a disaster. During the last few weeks, I had to hear some horrible things and I am still not over that. I don't know anymore.  
> Please be patient with me, I will go over this mess next week.

Faster. Faster.

Mud splashed with every hurried step he took, the thunder over him rolling, reminding him of the menace he was running from.

Faster, faster, he thought desperately.

It was completely dark around him, but distant lightning sometimes threw horrid streaks of light over the scenery.

It couldn’t be that far anymore… anywhere here… anywhere near…

And finally, finally, finally, he saw a high fence separating muddy field from a thick forest.

He could already smell the pines, despite his lungs aching with every sharp drag of breath and as he came closer, he prepared himself to climb up and over that fence. Gone forever. Good fucking bye.

The sand under his shoes seemed more slippery now, the heavy rain not helping a bit, but he kept running until his hands actually touched the cold metal of the fence.

Not losing one second, he started climbing, slipping out of the fine meshes with his muddy shoes and wet hands, but he held on, struggled and kept going - one yard, two.

Just as he thought he’d reached the top, a sharp stinging shot through his right hand - barbed wire.

He swore internally, but there was no turning back now, so he climbed up as much as he could, took one second to take a deep breath and the swung himself up.

It didn’t work.

Sharp metal teeth bore into his flesh, biting and tearing at his muscles and he screamed in pain.

He went limp immediately and felt how he fell again. He’d search for another way, one around that fucking fence, there mu-

But then he stopped falling and for a moment, nothing happened, before agony, screaming, thrashing agony enlightened his nerves and set his brain on fire.

It was his arm. His left arm was completely caught in the wires and he dangled there, no footing, nothing he could hold onto to get his arm free. When his brain let him coordinate his legs again, he braced his feet against the edge of the fence and pulled his arm free as best as he could.

But as he finally managed to free himself, there was nothing behind him holding him. With a horrified prickling mixing with the hot pain in his arm, he fell down the fence and landed hard on his back.

It forced the last bit of air out of his lungs and he struggled to breath in again, his back hurting and his arm killing him with a new wave of pain every time he moved.

Rain fell onto his face.

He could still smell the pines.

Desperate to do anything, focus on anything else, he dug his right hand into the wet dirt and kneaded it, clenching his fist with each stroke of pain.


	2. Chapter 2

A squeak in the dark and slow, steady steps on old wood.

Bucky took deep breaths, inhaling the strange scent every basement was filled with and wished he’d decided to take his flask with him.

He’d always hated New York’s sidewalk cellars. They scared the living shit out of him, because seriously, he imagined anything could be down there and now of course his freaking backpack had fallen down one of these creepy stairs.

Bucky silently vowed to always use that stupid chest clip of his backpack from now on. This one creepy stairway would be enough for a whole life.

The wood beneath his foot felt strangely frail, making him shift for balance and reach for a banister that wasn’t there. Slowly, he took another few steps, the light from the street vanishing much quicker than he descended.

His slight buzz wasn’t helping at all to keep him steady.

He could feel how the old wooden planks sagged with the weight he put on them, the smell of old moisture and mildew now heavy in the air. Damn, how far down did his stupid backpack even tumble?

Strangely, his eyes didn’t get used to the dark, and the creaking of the planks echoed much more than he’d anticipated. He set another foot down, searching for the step with the tip of his shoe first, then leaned forward and felt the wood give in the smallest bit. Automatically, he took a step back, putting all of his weight onto one leg and just when his mind warned him and that nervous prickling of a bad decision spread in his guts - a crack, suddenly and horribly familiar. Emptiness filled his stomach, the soles of his feet tingled with the nothingness now spreading right beneath him and as he fell, his blood rushed in his ears.

A piercing stab of sharp, hot pain shot through his left arm, he smelled pines and rain and-

He hit cold ground with a loud thud, forcing the air out of his lungs. A pang of pressure and pain raced down his spine and lit up the nerves from his neck to his tailbone. Tears suddenly blurred his vision and he pressed his eyes shut, still dealing with the throbbing in his chest and head. At least he’d landed somewhat softly on cold earth and to calm himself, he dug his hand into the dry soil, kneading it with his fingers for a while, until the wave of different aches faded, staring blindly at the step that had just cracked under his weight.

Fuck.

Now he had to find a way to sneak out again without making another fuss so the owner wouldn’t-

“Hello? Someone here?”

-notice him and ask to pay for the damages

Fuck, fuck, fuck.

“Ugh… yeah,” he shouted in the general direction the question had come from.

He sat up with a deep groan, staring into the dark and got back on his feet, his spine and hip protesting against the motion. Rubbing his lower back with a grim expression, Bucky looked around for the source of that strangely loud voice. He couldn’t make out who had spoken, or anything at all. He stepped a bit more into the dark, arm now outstretched to find a wall and hopefully a light switch.

“I kinda stumbled down here but don’t worry, I can fix that stair up again, no problem… I just need my backpack back!”

Now his voice echoed as well and he heard something shift in the dark, as if a huge, thick curtain was moving over an uneven floor. Maybe he stumbled into the basement of a laundry and here was where they let their biggest pieces dry?

He slowed down a bit, waiting for footsteps to come his direction; he felt as if he was walking uphill and his buzz wasn’t helping to keep his balance, especially since the earthy ground now was much harder and was covered with gravel.

But when no answer came and no footsteps followed, Bucky shifted nervously on his feet, the crunching of stone on stone spreading as the only sound.

“Errr… hello?”

“...Yes?” the voice from before answered and now that he was closer, Bucky heard a deep rumbling the echo had swallowed before.

A cold shiver ran down his spine and Bucky narrowed his eyes to try to see anything in the dark, but just as he did, a light wavered to life.

It wasn’t actually that bright, but so suddenly and coming through complete darkness, the light stung his eyes and his head started spinning with tipsiness and the beginnings of a headache.

The soft glow flickered somewhat, making it almost look like a reflection on water. Bucky rubbed his eyes. What kinda weird shit place was this?

He heard another movement, much bigger this time and coming from way above his head. Suddenly, a shiver ran down his spine, pooling in a cold feeling in his stomach. Instinctively, Bucky took a step back, just as a warm breeze blew the cap off his head.

A very unpleasant mixture of nervous apprehension made him shiver in his spot.

He saw something - Bucky would’ve called it skin, but it looked much more like living rock illuminated by the dim light. 

Frozen, he watched as something huge moved in the dark, a sound like booming thunder coming from way, way beneath his feet, his already unsteady knees shaking. The dim light finally spread at the loud sound that Bucky now noticed with terror where steps - a deep, gaping abyss stretched only a few feet away from him, forming a sharp cliff right in front of him. From the bottom, the light licked over the ground and Bucky saw that he was in fact in no basement. Stony walls stretched far over his head, enormous stalactites hung pointed angrily at him from the ceiling.

Hot air hit his face and hand, howled through the fabric of his clothes. The sensation didn’t help against the cold fear in his guts, but mixed with it until horror crawled up his spine, making him unable to move from his spot.

A head, pointed snout with thick whiskers and huge nostrils, appeared from the gloomy dark. Bucky stumbled back at the sight, just as gigantic blue eyes focused on him, slitted pupils directed at him.

Okay, that was fucking _it_. He’d fallen on his head, clearly this was a freaking hallucination. He was still lying under those stairs, drooling onto the dirty ground and inhaling dust bunnies.

He was imagining things.

This shit was not real.

The huge head tilted slightly, not even blinking and Bucky stared back just as intense. The head was covered scales the size of Bucky’s freaking hand, shimmering and a pearly dark blue. The nostrils flared and again Bucky felt hot air wash over him.

One moment of silence and mutual surveying passed, then the jaws opened, exposing sharp, white teeth. A cold feeling grabbed Bucky just behind his belly button and pulled at his guts.

A tongue peeked through the rows of fangs and Bucky fell backwards over his own feet, alarmed for a second, hitting rocky ground. But instead of opening the jaws wider to snap at him, the tongue only darted out, fluttering slightly.

Immediately, the pupils of the creature widened a tiny bit, strangely making the creature look much more cat-like.

“You’re a human!”

That caught him off guard - the surprised voice, much calmer than he’d expected, no growling and… that thing spoke.

Bucky opened and closed his mouth without a sound escaping.

“Well… yeah…” he mumbled ineloquently.

The creature tilted its head as something at the sides twitched - long blue ears that looked a little feathery.

“I haven’t seen you in ages. You never come by these days.”

Bucky probably looked pretty confused at that, because even before he could form an answer in his head, the creature spoke again.

“Of course you have forgotten about us - it’s been a little over seven hundred years I think… still…” and Bucky swore that moment the creature sighed and looked almost pained, “It’s been such great times until-”

The creature blinked at him, like it just realized something.

“You probably don’t even know that, don’t you? No, you’re way too young… I always forget how mortal you are compared to our kind.”

Bucky’s mind obviously didn’t make any sense at this point, not that he’d expected that in a concussion-induced hallucination, but it was a little worrying to see it that apparent.

A loud flapping came from behind the head and in the dim glow he saw a pair of wings stretch. 

“I’m a dragon.”

A unsettling feeling rose in the back of Bucky’s mind. Okay, so his mind manifested his problems and trauma as a dragon. Of fucking course. Probably, because it was huge… or burning… or didn’t really exist but only in his head.

Shaking his head slowly, he sat up a little, looking the huge creature directly in the eyes. So - this was what his brain had cooked up for him, like some sort of metaphor and grand reveal of what was wrong with him.

“And you’re a human.”

“Yeah, errr, I kinda already knew that.”

The big eyes blinked at Bucky, but otherwise he didn’t react to the statement.

“And what are you doing out so late? Are you lost?”

“Ha, actually… no. I was out shopping. You know? Groceries? A man's gotta eat.”

He laughed, but the dragon twitched his ears and blew an ashy whiff over him.

“But… It’s night time. Isn’t it?” 

“I’m not really into crowds, you know? That time of day most places are deserted. I prefer that.”

He scooted a little closer to the cliff to take a better look at the… well, dragon. It was gigantic, easily towering over the brink of the abyss, with a long blue body stretching through the length of it. The shimmering scales stretched from the tip of his tail to his snout, the eyes only brighter by a shade. The horns - or maybe antlers - on his head in contrast reminded Bucky of rich acacia wood. Only the belly was of a light color, looking much softer since it was scaleless.

Even if that somehow might have seemed intimidating, the little lights reflecting in the huge orbs almost made him look cute, but Bucky still congratulated his imagination.

“So… what’s your name, pal?” he asked, letting his legs dangle from the cliff. If his mind was taking him this way today, he was fine with it. Beat the echoes of voices he didn’t want to hear anymore and core-shattering pieces of memories that normally flashed up – even if this messed up scenario probably meant he finally hit the worst combination of vodka and his anti-depressant.

“Steve!” the creature chirped back, the high sound echoing throughout the cave.

Bucky raised an eyebrow. “Steve?”

Maybe the cardiac arrhythmias and constant barfing from the concussion later on wouldn’t be worth it if this were the limits of his hallucinating fantasy.

“Yesss!” he gave back just as enthusiastically, his tongue flickering a little between his teeth.

“Nothing more… I dunno… magical?”

His whiskers twitched and he tilted his head. “Isn’t Steve a magical name?”

“Uhh, no?”

Again his whiskers twitched, a little more vigorous this time and a hot blow of air from his nostrils swept over Bucky, making his skin tingle comfortably.

“Why?”

“Ugh, well… you know…” Bucky lulled, shifting a bit to put less weight on his hand, “It’s just a normal name, I guess? Like… it’s a person name? And that’s not really special.”

“But I’m a dragon. So it’s a dragon name too.”

At that, Bucky chewed on his lips.

“Okay, point to you.”

So his mind imagined his trauma as a dragon and the dragon’s name was Steve.

His problems’ name was Steve.

What the actual shit.

“And what is your name?” the dragon asked cheerfully.

“Call me Bucky.”

“Bucky!” he repeated and flapped his wings twice, “What a pretty name!”

“Yeah… thanks.”

For a moment, they looked at each other in silence, Bucky watching the - well, Steve, then gestured around, a little aimlessly.

“So… you… live down here?”

Steve nodded. “I have for a long time now…”

“Why that buddy? Aren’t ya,” Bucky nodded up, “supposed to roam the skies or something?”

Steve made a cooing sound, almost sounding like a pidgeon. “Those times have passed. I’ve worked with humans for a long time, but… fear and insecurity are strong motivators to… mistrust…”

Suddenly, he looked sad, almost pained, his ears hanging the smallest bit.

“Ages have passed since that. I have spent them here. I watched you, as much as I could… you’ve changed so much in such little time.”

A loud sigh escaped the dragon and the hot air almost burned on Bucky’s nose and cheeks.

“I love humans. You’re so mysterious…”

Bucky suppressed a chuckle, instead nodding in agreement. 

“Yeah, I totally see ya point,” he said, but the next words felt a little bitter on his tongue, “we’re… mysterious.”

“Yeah,” Steve breathed, obviously not having noticed Bucky’s shift of emotion, “I miss you…”

Feeling a mixture of offended and curious, Bucky decided to play along this delusion, even if his head was trying to play shrink with him now.

“You know what you should do? You should totally visit me.”

At that, the pupils of the dragon dilated, the cat-like slits disappearing and suddenly Steve wagged his tail behind him, creating a swooshing sound in the cold air. He put his head down just enough so he could still look at Bucky over the edge of the cliff, all his attention focused on him. “Are you… are you serious?”

Bucky snorted.

“Sure, buddy, come by whenever. Stay the night. In fact - why don’tcha just come live with me? My apartment's like… packed with mice you can eat.”

The wagging got faster, the long blue tail flopping excitedly and another hot puff of air washed over Bucky.

“Really? Don’t you need them?”

“Nah, it’s cool, buddy, I’m on a low-mice diet right now.”

Steve nodded, like he understood what that even meant. “But... what about my garden? I couldn’t leave my plants behind.”

“Put’em in my bathtub,” he said with a dismissing gesture, suppressing a giggle at where this wild dream had brought him, “Just… in there and there’s water and light and… all that stuff man!”

The dragon held his gaze, big blue eyes shimmering. “And you would really let me come live with you?”

“Yeah, like I said; totally. It’d be like... my honor, Stevie. Only thing… you might be a bit too…” again Bucky waved his arm through the air, indicating the enormous extent of Steve’s huge body, “much to sleep on the couch. It’s more for pocket-sized dragons, if you get my gist. You’ll have to squeeze in a little.”

Again a nod and a loud bang from flesh on stone when the rapidly wagging tail brought down a few stalactites. “I can be small.”

“Well, duude,” Bucky laughed and threw his arm up, “I guess that means welcome!”

Steve laughed too, at least Bucky thought it was a laugh; he blew a hot gush of air his direction and an excited cooing echoed in the cave.

The hot blow was unexpected and with the momentum of throwing his arm up, Bucky fell backwards and slammed into the stony ground.

The dull sound resounded with Bucky’s pained groan and as soon as the hot feeling prickling of his face faded, he noticed how cold the air was and that his jeans felt damp.

He’d been sitting on the ground for too long.

A shiver ran down Bucky’s spine, and he put his hand deeper into his pocket, sighing tiredly. He thought about how he was probably lying in some rotten basement right now, freezing his ass off with rats chewing on his shoe laces.

His buzz rose again from the back of his head and made his thoughts spin uncomfortably fast.

“Okay, pal, this has been fun, but I should probably head home.”

He leaned back onto his hand again to lock eyes with the huge creature. Its nostrils flared, before the long, split tongue flickered in his general direction.

“Yes, you smell cold. Go get shelter.”

Bucky smiled and Steve let his wings rush through the air once again.

“And don’t forget the begpeg you spoke of!”


	3. Chapter 3

When Bucky woke up the next day, the sun was already glowing brightly, a radiant beam licking over the old wooden floor. He couldn’t remember much of his way home, feeling a little sting in the back of his mind.

Rubbing his temple, he groaned into the pillow.

Yeah, he’d had a drink or two before he went outside to do his shopping or… stuff, but he’d always told himself that was just for his nerves. If things got out of hand on this level, he might have to admit he had a problem.

Shit, did he actually need to call Natasha?

The thought of admitting how bad things had become to her made him shiver. No way.

Bucky forced himself to get up, peeling off his old clothes and, after a sniff, tossed them into the corner with the rest of the dirty laundry he couldn’t bring himself to do.

At least he got himself into the shower and let lukewarm water run through his filthy hair and over his dirty skin. Man, where had he been last night?

When he finally had the feeling that he’d rinsed out all the sand, he stepped out of the shower, not bothering with soap, and took the nearest towel from the ground.

Hair still damp, but at least dressed, he looked around his small flat.

 _First things first_ , he thought after a deep breath, sorting his thoughts, _put away your groceries_.

His backpack was lying right at the end of his bed, dropped there carelessly. Frowning, he picked it up and emptied his goods onto the kitchen counter.

The frown became a frustrated groan.

The bread was totally squished to a flat mush, most of the eggs were broken and smeared all over the onions and carrots and the inside of the backpack. The detergent bottle only had a dent, luckily.

He could save a handful of eggs and the milk, but would have to rinse all the vegetables.

Cleaning the mess luckily didn’t take that long and after a few minutes, everything was stuffed into the small fridge and Bucky threw the backpack into the corner with the dirty laundry.

Taking a look at the clock on the microwave, he might as well use the rest of the day to work on his new woodworks. He remembered that he’d had a few new orders in his mailbox yesterday, but when he looked around for his phone to check that again, he noticed it wasn’t lying around. But… hadn’t he just seen it in bed?

Crawling back onto the mattress, he pushed around pillows and blankets, but came up empty handed.

Also nothing in his pants pockets. 

He knew it had been in his backpack when he went shopping yesterday, but that obviously wasn’t the case anymore. He should’ve been grateful that he didn’t find it mushed with the rest of his stuff, but the joy was limited since he’d obviously lost his phone.

Great, just great.

With an annoyed groan, Bucky pulled out the drawer with paint and brushes, but only stared at them, clenching his hand to a fist. 

Anger and frustration plucked at his nerves; he needed his freaking phone, badly. And buying a new one was not an option with the state of his finances - especially, when he needed his phone to do his freaking job!

And as he glanced out the window and saw the sun low on the already pinkish sky, he noticed he’d wasted most of the day with sleeping and searching.

Bucky couldn’t restrain himself and banged his palm onto the kitchen counter, furious with himself and everything. h turned around to maybe kick a chair or-

A scratching from the door.

Bucky froze on his spot.

Icy hands seemed to pull at his organs and furious heat turned to cold shock so quickly that his stomach hurt. A faint sound from the back of his mind - rain falling onto mud and onto his face, cold and piercing - set side ablaze with stinging pain.

He pressed his jaw together until he heard the squeaky, unnerving sound of teeth on teeth, doing so until the nasty sensation let him snap out of it.

He left the kitchen and entered the living room, watching the front door closely, his palm feeling sweaty as he came closer. Taking deep breaths to calm himself, he focused on walking as quietly as he could. A quick thought of taking the baseball bat that waited next to the door with him crossed his mind, but he decided against it - first find out who or what made that sound.

He had to put at least that last restraint on his paranoia.

Putting his ear to the door,Bucky listened, trying to ignore the loud banging of his own pulse in his ears. He heard shifting, but only one pair of feet and maybe a bag they dragged a little over the floor. They didn’t say anything, seemingly just shuffled their feet and Bucky took a deep breath before reaching for the first lock on the door.

With a loud click, the first sprung open, then he fumbled for the key for two and three, unhooked the latch and opened the door a bit.

At first he saw a pair of bare feet with black nail polish, then naked calves. A blanket, dusty and looking like mice had gnawed at it, covered the rest of the person’s body up to the shoulders. A shoe dangled from one arm, laces tied together as straps and inside the shoe, Bucky saw a small plant.

The face of the person was directed towards him, blue eyes fixed at him, the expression accompanied by a smile. In shock, Bucky noticed that from the blond hair on the person’s head, two thick antlers stuck out.

Quickly, he made a move to shut the door again.

“I’m not buying anything and I’m done with any religion, bye!”

But just before the reassuring click of the lock resounded, the guy stuck a hand between door and doorframe.

Panicked, Bucky stumbled back.

The door opened a bit again and the guy looked through the gap, still smiling. Bucky’s eyes widened and he felt like somebody had just pulled away the ground beneath his feet.

“Oh no, I’m not selling anything! It’s me! Steve! You told me to come by smaller!”

That name somehow felt familiar, but his rising panic swallowed it immediately, his heart raced and the too-familiar throbbing on his right side emerged suddenly, with a sharp pang. His breath quickened, but the oxygen didn’t quite reach his lungs. 

“You’re- _WHO?!_ ”

“Steve!” the guy gave back with a huge smile and even that rung a very small bell in the back of his mind, but he couldn’t put it anywhere.

To make things worse, that guy now put a foot between the door and the frame, hand already on the doorknob. The nails were covered in the same polish as the feet.

Bucky backed off, arm stretched out behind him to not bump into the sofa. The guy didn’t seem to notice how distressed he actually was, he only furrowed his eyebrows a bit.

“Are you feeling unwell? Are you tired? Or maybe hungry?”

With the questions he came a little closer, more of him appearing in the gap and Bucky noticed it wasn’t actually nail polish, but that the guy had freaking claws. Actual, sharp claws, clicking a bit on the floor with his steps. Bucky lost it, both his chill and his balance, and fell backwards, luckily falling right into the thickly cushioned armchair.

The guy’s- thing’s- creature’s eyes widened and he ran over to Bucky, dragging behind him what Bucky noticed with terror was a blue, scaly tail.

A sound much like a whine escaped Bucky’s throat and he already felt on the verge of a break down, when it looked him over and finally took a step back.

“Oh… Sorry, pal, I forgot you forgot.”

That didn’t make any sense, but it was irritating enough to get Bucky back on steadier ground for a moment.

“I… what? What’d you forget and… what the fuck did I forget? What?!”

“You’ll remember!” it said simply and reached for the small plant, picking two of the small leaves. “Rub them between your fingers and press them against your gum with your tongue!”

Bucky shook his head violently and examined the leaves suspiciously, leaning away from the herb. “I don’t want your marijuana.”

The being laughed, “No, that’s just ginseng! It’s great for all kinds of things, including memory. Should be enough to break the spell.”

“S-Spell?” Bucky stared at the creature that looked back with big blue eyes and a smile that was probably supposed to be heart-warming. “I don’t want your voodoo or tarot or whatever the shit.”

The creature’s nose crinkled a bit. “Could you watch your language? Much appreciated.”

It outstretched its hand a bit more, that smile still present. Bucky’s fear slowly devolved into confusion. What the actual fuck?

After another moment of nothing happening and the smile on that stupidly innocent face not faltering, Bucky cautiously smelled the leaves.

Just earthy and a bit… well… herbal.

“Don’t worry, it’s harmless. Cross my dragon heart!”

Again the creature giggled and Bucky didn’t understand why.

_Must be some tarot-weirdo-lizard-dude joke._

Bucky took the leaves from him, his eyes shifting between the thing to the greens and back. But when he made no attempt to do anything else than to wait patiently, Bucky rubbed the leaves between his fingers and the scent started filling his lungs.

An oddly pleasant prickling rose in the back of his mind, cooling and fresh, somehow minty. Steve smiled happily.

“It’s still a sapling, but its effects are already blossoming, trust me.”

Gnawing at the inside of his cheek, Bucky once again looked the small leaves over before he put them in his mouth. They didn’t taste much different than they smelled and for a moment, he simply sat there, waiting for some sort of epiphany.

While he stared at him, Steve looked around and put the shoe with the plant down, making a soft humming noise. But Bucky’s attention was completely captured by the blue, shimmering scales.

He knew these. And he knew Steve. But he knew him… different.

“I hope your bathtub is a little light protected… Ginseng is a delicate thing and I fear it got a lot of sunshine on my way here…”

In confusion, Bucky looked at the small plant and then slowly, it dawned on him. “Oh, yeah. My bathtub.”

He remembered he’d said that… _put’em in my bathtub_. He’d seen Steve before. And he’d told Steve he could have a garden in his bathroom.

But he hadn’t meant that - had he? What kind of sane person promised their bathtub to a stranger? For a garden?

But then again,what kind of sane person spoke to drago-

Bucky almost choked.

“You’re a dragon!”

“And you’re a human!” Steve gave back with a wink. Strangely, that made Bucky shiver.

“We already sorted that out yesterday, it will come back to you in a moment.”

Bucky’s mind overheard Steve and leaped back again. “You’re a dragon!”

Narrowing his eyes a bit, Steve bent over Bucky and examined his face.

“Yes. I am a dragon. It might be a bit surprising, but our kind is real and still exists. At least a few of us.”

And then, he put his hand on Bucky’s shoulder.

Bucky wanted to flinch, but strangely, Steve’s calmness was reassuring enough to let it happen.

“Roll with it. I’m as real as you are. That’s nature, pal. Deep breath.”

A voice in Bucky’s mind told him that this was definitely not the time for deep breaths, but that hand was still on Bucky’s shoulder and somehow the blue of Steve’s eyes was relaxing enough to make him do as he was told.

There was a miniature dragon in Bucky’s apartment that told him to just roll with it.

Sure.

Okay.

Obviously pleased with that, Steve’s smile widened to a grin, making something in Bucky’s chest twitch.

“I already planned out which plants I need the most. We will have to get these first, but I am afraid I will need more space. From what I remember, one bathtub will not be sufficient for my garden.”

Steve took a seat on the old sofa, close enough so their knees touched.

Bucky nodded along, but didn’t actually listen to what Steve said. He looked him over, glancing to where their legs touched, but his attention was caught again and again by Steve’s tail.

“You’re blue all over normally, aren’t you?” he interrupted Steve after a long moment.

A cooing sound came from Steve, but he didn’t move his lips. It was rather like a purr and seemed to come from just under Steve’s throat.

“Yes, I am.”

“But your belly is somewhat brighter…”

“And very soft,” Steve nodded, rubbing the skin over his stomach.

“And you live in a cave,” Bucky mumbled in a low voice. A picture rose from the thick fog that was last night, glowing lights on the floor first, then the outlines of something huge.

“I invited you, didn’t I?”

Steve nodded, “You can’t imagine how excited I was.”

“I… I think I remember. We talked. For kind of a while?”

“Yeah, it was really nice to have some company again. I hadn’t really noticed how lonely I felt until you came by.” Gently, he nudged Bucky’s shoulder. “Best coincidence that has happened to me in a long time, I tell you.”

A prickling feeling ran down Bucky’s back, much warmer than he’d anticipated.

“And… how did you find my apartment?”

The wide grin spread on Steve’s face anew. “That was easy. I smelled you.”

Bucky pouted. “Well thanks buddy.”

“No! I mean I traced your scent. You smell so much of wood and my cave, I couldn’t have missed you if I wanted.”

That was only partially better, but Bucky didn’t complain as Steve’s eyes started to glisten, while new questions popped up in Bucky’s head.

“I still can’t believe you invited me here! I mean, there’s still so much to do, but…” he looked around, a huge smile on his face Bucky couldn’t really give back, “It’s so nice here! Everything changed so much!”

“Err, yeah, it- it has, hey, uhm, question,” Bucky said, while Steve shuffled a little on the sofa, trying to arrange himself so he wasn’t sitting on his own tail, “Correct me if I’m wrong, but; you said your last encounter with humans was seven hundred years ago?”

“Yes,” Steve gave back, ears twitching. “I was part of a group that swore to protect humans against threats far beyond your most frightful imagination…”

His mind seemed to wander off for a moment, because he looked right through Bucky for a second, before he focused again. “But with time passing, people started to doubt why they should trust us dragons with their protection, when we could become a threat just as easily. The rulers at that time tried to tame us - it was a time of many splittings. We suffered great losses. The few of us that were still alive and here decided to go into hiding.”

A sorrowful silence followed that and Bucky kneaded the cushion of his armchair, feeling uncomfortable with what Steve had just told him.

“Oh… okay I’m… I’m sorry, I think. That sounds pretty rough.”

“It was a hard time, yes. But it is also long over. What happened can not be changed,” Steve showed an honest smile, “You wanted to ask something?”

“Errr…” _great_ “I just kinda wanted to know how it comes you speak… like that.”

Bucky would have expected that Steve would scold him for being so unsensitive right now, but he only let his tail flop through the air.

“You mean like you?”

“Uh, yeah.”

Again, Steve wiggled his ears “I have a great sense of hearing. And I love listening to humans.”

“Little eavesdropper,” Bucky joked before he could really realize what he said and even a wink cam with gentle teasing.

To his surprise, Steve blushed a light shade of pink at that, but didn’t lose his smile.

Bucky was about to nudge Steve just like he’d done earlier, but then Steve “winked” back - an opaque, slimy skin covering his retina for a second before disappearing under the actual eyelid.

A feeling like he’d skipped a step made Bucky shiver for a moment, but he tried not to let it show, forcing a smile onto his face.

Luckily, before Bucky could spare another thought for that eyelid, Steve wrung his hands and sighed.

“I… As I said I’m really grateful that you invited me and I think this will be a great experience… but I might need to ask you for a few favors. I need certain things here.”

“Okay. Like what?”

“A bed. Well, not actually a bed, but something I can lie on that’s somehow warm… I obtain my body warmth from my environment.” 

Bucky hummed in comprehension.

“Okay. What, err, what else do you need?”

“Oh, we need to get my things. My other plants, though we might need more shoes - I only have this one. And I need my treasure!”

“Your what now?”

“My treasure. My thalers.”

“Thalers?”

Steve nodded with a seriousness that Bucky didn’t expect, but shrugging, Bucky took that as a given.

After accepting that an actual dragon was sitting on his sofa right now, at this very moment, he was much more willing to believe anything.

Besides, when Steve really hadn’t seen humanity since the Middle Ages, it wouldn’t be that strange of him to have a treasure, right? Maybe he still had some old gold coins from a battle he’d fought?

If hosting a dragon meant financial support from said dragon, Bucky was the last one to complain.

His blog was running quite okay and Tasha tried to convince him to set up a store since forever now, but neither did he have a constant income nor any securities besides the job that let him keep the flat.

“And I need a hiding spot for these. Not that I don’t trust you, it’s just,” Steve grumbled, “That is just how we do that… I need to hide my valuables…”

“Sure, buddy, if you need it, we’ll arrange that. For the rest… let me mull that over, but I’ll get that done. It’s not that much work.”

“Thank you,” Steve whispered, putting his hand over Bucky’s and then yawned, sharp teeth glistening in the process.

“You tired buddy?”

Steve smiled, sinking a bit into the cushions. “It was a long journey. And it wasn’t really warm outside… I guess I am.”

A slow blink followed his words and a purring sound when he put his head onto the armrest. Bucky felt oddly reminded of a cat.

“You can have the couch for tonight. Let me get you some blankets, big guy,” Bucky said and strangely, a smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. It almost felt cocky and the light pink hue that suddenly tinged Steve’s pointy ears assured Bucky of that suspicion.


	4. Chapter 4

The next morning, waking up felt surreal.

For most of the night, Bucky had lain awake and considered the chances of him being already asleep. Or that he was still asleep and dreaming - for once a rather peaceful scenario. Or maybe he actually fell down these basement steps and his concussion would put an end to his consciousness all together in his sleep.

But whatever it was, he didn’t see how playing along with this hallucination could worsen his situation. And for the tiny chance that this was actually reality - it might as well be fun to have the weirdest room mate.

Bucky had gone through some shit in his life. Why not think that the universe or coincidence or whatever once offered him something not shitty.

But something a little magical.

Something unbelievable.

And after having slept for a full five hours, he was clearer. Bucky had decided to, like Steve said, roll with this. It wouldn’t harm him and might actually be fun.

Rolling out of bed, he fumbled for his jeans and ran his fingers through his hair. The herbal scent that surrounded Steve like a cloud already hung in Bucky’s clothes ad engulfed him now too.

Steve had insisted on sleeping on the sofa and when Bucky crossed the living room, he saw him curled like a dog. A smile tugged at the corners of his mouth and he stepped into the kitchen.

Still feeling his nightly tossing and turning in his back, he rolled his shoulders a little and fetched himself an energy drink. An insisting _meow_ came from behind the narrow kitchen window and taking small sips from his drink, Bucky opened the window to let the red-white neighbor’s cat inside.

The furry face looked at him with a piercing stare and when Bucky meowed back at her mockingly, she only huffed.

Getting the hint, Bucky took a can of cat food and started pouring her breakfast.

Just when he’d finished that and the cat made her way over to the bowl, he heard shuffling from the living room.

Steve trudged into the kitchen moments later, a soft _pad pad_ from naked feet on floor announcing him. He looked disheveled, blond hair tousled and some strands stuck to his antlers.

An actual chuckling, still throaty from sleep, made it over Bucky’s lips. The sight was pretty charming and he leaned against the kitchen counter while steve rubbed his eyes.

“Mornin’. Slept well?”

A tired nod, a yawn that caused an actual puff of smoke to swirl from Steve’s nostrils followed, before he stretched himself and ruffled his hair.

That warm flutter from yesterday arose again in Bucky’s chest and quickly, he turned himself away, nodding “Great, great.”

“Hmmm,” Steve hummed and let his tongue dart out, “What smells so good?”

Bucky furrowed his brows and looked around, grabbing the empty can of cat food, “Do you… mean this?”

Steve leaned in closer and again his tongue darted out - immediately, Steve smacked his lips.

“That smells delicious.”

“Seriously? This?”

A vigorous nod followed.

“Can I have some?”

Again Bucky furrowed his eyebrows, reached for another can and shrugged, “Well if you wanna? Are you hungry?”

In return, a loud rumbling came from Steve’s stomach and he rubbed his hand over the skin of his belly “Sorry… I last had mice and parsnip back in my cave before I transformed. That requires a lot of energy.”

Bucky laughed openly and reached for another can of cat food to pop it open for Steve, but just as he was about to do that, Steve’s hand grabbed Bucky’s wrist.

“Stop! I need that! Please!”

Startled by Steve’s reaction, Bucky tried to pull his hand free in between trying to pull away.

“What - Do - You - Mean?!”

He reached forward and pulled at the metal ring attached to the can top.

“I need this!!”

A confused sound escaped Bucky “The pull tab??”

“puhhl tahp!” Steve repeated and his eyes practically glistened, “Yes, that. I need that.”

Expectantly, he held his hand out. Bucky looked him over once and, understanding he probably wouldn’t get a better answer out of him, pulled the can open and the tab off, can tucked between his knees.

“Here you go, buddy,” he said and dropped the small ring into the open palm. A blush spread over Steve’s cheeks and even the tip of his tail seemed to be a little pinker.

“Thank you,” he whispered gratefully and with a flick of his wrist, the thing was gone.

Bucky blinked twice, but Steve was already eyeing the can again.

“Would you… Can I have this now?”

“Oh, errr, sure.”

He handed Steve the can and seeing that he tried to lick the cat food out of it, he quickly gave him a spoon. His panicked imagination had already drawn a tongue cut open in brightly red colors.

But with Steve playing with the spoon for a second, amazed by the reflexion of light shooting over the wall, the nervous tremble in his knees slowly disappeared.


	5. Chapter 5

Bucky found himself in the cave his mind had pieced together only a few hours later. Steve had led the way with surprising certainty through the streets of Brooklyn, but Bucky suspected it was again his sense of smelling that guided them both back to Steve’s hiding spot.

When Steve had stepped out wearing only one of Bucky’s shirts and a pair of old, very loose pants with a hole cut for his tail, Bucky had voiced concerns that people might freak out if they saw Steve. He had only laughed and told Bucky that of course _only people who’d seen his real form could see his extra appendages now, how did Bucky think he made his way over in the first place?_.

Only when they actually walked past other people who didn’t spare Steve a second glance he was actually convinced - even though that raised more silent questions of how exactly Steve’s disguise worked.

The stairs felt much more solid this time as he walked them down with Steve and when they reached earthy-stony ground, lights flickered to life around Steve’s feet, tongues of blue-ish glow licking over the ground. Obviously this place was much nicer and less creepy if Steve wanted it to be.

They made their way down into the rift, Steve again leading the way down a rather rocky and narrow path. He walked with confidence, but Bucky made every step with extreme care, making sure to put enough weight onto the balls of his feet and for fuck’s sake not look down that gorge.

“I have been here for a long time,” Steve thankfully started to tell, “There wasn’t much here - almost nothing to be honest. The city just… came closer and closer and… started evolving and spread and grew and… one day I found myself in the heart of a city that is… so alive.”

Bucky looked up to give a snarky remark and immediately stepped onto something flat and hard and a loud _crunch_ echoed through the cave. With a sigh he noticed it was his phone, broken.

At least he knew where he’d left it now.

He reached down to grab it, but as his fingertips touched the ground, the soft glow intensified and Bucky flinched back.

With his mouth opened in surprise, he let his palm slide over the ground and found that it felt… fuzzy.

“It’s the moss,” Steve’s voice answered, before Bucky could even ask.

“Hmm,” Bucky mumbled back, rubbing the moss a little, “Does your magic make it light up?”

A snickering was the answer, the glow around Steve intensifying a bit.

“No, Buck. It’s warmth. You provide energy and the moss converts it. No energy provided; no glow.”

“But… when you walk, it lights up,” Bucky asked, raising an eyebrow, “And what’s that _Buck_ -thing now?”

Again Steve chuckled.

“You’re wearing shoes!” he gave back, holding up one of his bare feet, “And the _Buck_ -thing is called a nickname. In long gone times, one shortened or altered the name of the person to display affe-”

“Yeah, yeah, I know what a nickname is,” Bucky retorted, feeling patronized, “Just tell me where your treasure is.”

“On there,” Steve nodded to a huge, flat stone.

Bucky looked up and on the stone, there was a pile of small, glittering and shiny pieces. Climbing onto the rock and shuffling closer, he discovered it were thousands of tabs, mostly like the one he’d wanted from Bucky this morning, but also bigger and smaller ones and of every color.

“Steve??”

“Aye?”

“What… is this?” Bucky asked speechlessly.

“Well, it’s my treasure!” he chirped back, the tip of his tail wagging happily behind the pile of tabs, “I thought it were thalers, but you told me they’re just these _puhl taps_.”

Steve jumped to a standing position again, hands - and strangely forehead too - dirty with wet earth and shrugged.

“I still like them, they glisten! And are so small, I can have so many… all the colors _ssss_ ”

He hissed that last word and his pupils dilated a little bit, fixed on the pile for a moment, before he unsnapped, flashed Bucky a smile and darted out his tongue.

“Great. And… what are we gonna do with them?”

“Put my blanket over them and I’ll take care of that in a moment.”

“Err… okay,” Bucky mumbled, but thought that asking Steve now would probably not leave him with a better answer. So he did as he was told, pulled the blanket out of his backpack and spread it over the pile as best as he could.

“Anything else I can do for you?”

“Hmm,” Steve hummed looking over the patch that hosted the smallest plants, “I think you can put the saplings into the begpeg if you’re careful. Thank you.”

Growling silently, Bucky walked over to where Steve was still kneeling on the ground and put his backpack on the ground, holding back an exhausted sigh. But when Steve jumped to his feet and grinned excitedly, the tip of his tail wagging slightly, it only left a warm trace right behind Bucky’s ribs.

After that, they worked next to each other in silence. Steve explained to Bucky that at least the things he considered his treasure were bound to him in a somewhat magical way. If he touched them, he could bring them home with only a gesture - at that Bucky remembered the first tab from the cat food can this morning.

Still, he felt reminded of the performance of a magician at a birthday party, when Steve simply grabbed the blanket and seemingly stuffed all the small metal pieces under it, while they disappeared into thin air.

Taking a deep breath, Bucky tried to let go of that metaphor. 

_Roll with it._

At least that magical whatever transportation had the advantage that they wouldn’t have to carry all of Steve’s belongings - only the plants and Steve insisted on taking the soil, which he claimed the plants were very choosy with.

Bucky only shrugged and nodded, since Steve had already scooped a small mountain of the dark earth onto the blanket and tied the ends, so he ended up having a bundle of dirt.

Whatever. If he was willing to carry it, why not let him have his magical dragon super soil.

When they were finally ready to leave again, Bucky already walking up that narrow path again, Steve furrowed his eyebrows and bent down to inspect something on the ground.

From the shape of the thing and the location Steve had found the thing, Bucky concluded it was his phone.

“Don’t bother with that - it’s broken.”

Steve shrugged and picked the phone up anyway.

“I still like it,” he simply gave back and let the broken phone slide into one of his pants pockets.


	6. Chapter 6

"Okay, pal," Bucky began, maneuvering something through the door frame that looked like an oversized picture frame, "This is for you."

Steve looked up from the plants he had just put into various cups, mugs and other pot-like objects, spreading soil all over the sofa.

"Another bathtub?"

"No. This is for your... treasure,” he patted the wood, showing a small, proud smile.

Bucky nodded towards the big pile of taps right next to the sofa "I built it for you. We put’em in here, throw a blanket over that and you have your private hiding spot. No peeking, pinky promise."

Steve's eyes widened and his tail started wagging, immediately throwing down a plastic bag that had been for toast and now hosted two small saplings.

"Thank you," he whispered and jumped from his spot, looking like he was about to jump into Bucky’s arms.

"Actually, I also have a gift for you!"

That surprised Bucky.

“You do?”

“In the kitchen!” he grinned and took Bucky’s wrist.

Around the sink, Steve had arranged each of Bucky’s liquor bottles. They were all empty.

“I found your juice bottles and… they all smelled really bad; I think they were spoiled. So i got rid off the juice and now we can fill them with my moss.”

“Greeeaaaat,” Bucky answered, drawing the word out to swallow his shock.

Steve nodded, looking so proud of himself that Bucky bit his tongue. He wasn’t addicted in a real sense - at least he hoped he wasn’t but - but whenever he needed to go out… it helped. Walking to the supermarket was a challenge, every time he had to do it, shopping for tools he needed for work was a cause for panic attacks and on bad days, he couldn’t even bring out the trash without a decent swig.

A nervous trembling let his fingers twitch and he quickly clenched his hand to a fist.

“And that’s not the best, Buck! The actual surprise is this,” Steve pointed to a pot on the stove.

“Did you… find that too?”

“Haha,” Steve gave back dryly, “The surprise is I made you tea.”

He lifted the lid of the pot and a heavy, herbal-flowery scent engulfed Bucky. He stepped closer to take a look at the rich, dark infusion. Apparently, Steve had put different leaves and petals into a small bundle - it smelled overwhelmingly good and the warm scent calmed Bucky enough to control the shiver again.

“Those are my plants. I noticed you were a little stressed and thought this might help. It’s my own recipe - valerian, melissa and lavender to calm you down and help you sleep. I heard you tossing and turning a lot. I also added a little blessed thistle, just for the mood.”

Steve smiled proudly and Bucky was lacking words.

That Steve had noticed that Bucky didn’t sleep well, that he had obviously taken these plants from his cave to help him, was a little too much for Bucky.

His cheeks suddenly felt much warmer than before and Bucky bent down to smell the scent a little more, giving himself a moment to deal with the emotions bubbling up in his chest.

“Thank you,” he finally whispered, feeling stupidly flattered, “That… thank you.”

Obviously pleased with the reaction, Steve bit his bottom lip, standing a little straighter, chin up, chest out.

“I have to thank you. For inviting me. For making me something I can store my things in. How did you even make that so fast?”

Bucky, who had grabbed a cup from one of his shelves and ladled a bit of tea into that, smiled.

“I’m sort of like a janitor slash groundskeeper here. I have a friend whose uncle owns this building - I repair all kinds of stuff around here, he lets me have the flat.”

“Uhh,” Steve cooed, “That’s great. I have always been bad at crafting, but that might be a natural rivalry of dragon and wood.”

Steve giggled at his own joke and Bucky joined with a soft chuckling, before he fell into one of his kitchen chairs.

“Yeah, but you, my friend, have a green thumb - maybe even two. I couldn’t keep a cactus alive if I tried,” Bucky gave back, blowing into the cup so the tea would cool enough to drink it. “Though I guess it comes in handy… I make tutorials for crafting all kinds of things so I make some actual money. I have a blog and that friend helps me make the videos for my blog.”

Bucky smiled, but Steve suddenly looked nervous.

“I… errr… I know these words but… errrr…”

And then it hit Bucky, “But you don’t actually know what they mean.”

Steve shook his head.

“Oh, man, sorry. I… I guess I forgot,” Bucky mumbled apologetically, then kicked the other chair from under the table to get Steve to take a seat.

“See… Humans have this thing - the internet - and it connects you with other people all over the world, if you wanna. And I… it’s like I have a room in there that people can visit and watch me craft stuff and I explain how I repair things or whatever comes to my mind and what might interest others. That… that room is called a blog. And some people give me some money because I explained something to them. Err… yeah, that’s it.”

“Ahh,” Steve gave back, leaning back into the chair, “That seems like a nice thing to do. Can you show me?”

“Errr, show you what?”

“Your intrurnet.”

Steve looked at him expectantly and Bucky shifted a little in his seat.

“I… I need my computer to access it and I actually don’t know where that is.”

“Oh, then show me your blog.”

“No, I… I need my computer to show you the internet to show you my blog.”

Steve grunted, seemingly not really satisfied in his curiosity. “Then tell me something about it. Does that… roomblog have a name?”

A nervous laugh came over Bucky’s lips at that, before he nodded shyly, “Err, yeah, it’s… It’s called ‘I could do that single-handedly’.”

A moment of silence followed, were Bucky felt strangely tense, before Steve burst into laughter, slapping his hands over his mouth as he blew thick, black puffs of smoke out of it.

“So you got that one, I guess,” Bucky mumbled, a nervous laugh underlying his words.

In return, Steve nodded vigorously, but then stopped abruptly, “I shouldn’t laugh about this.”

“Err, no, it’s okay… It’s supposed to be like that… Plus I don’t get to make that joke that often… I don’t want anyone to know… this.”

“That you only have one arm?”

“Yeah.”

Steve nodded and luckily didn’t question him any more about that topic.

Instead, he reached for one of the empty liquor bottles, a pretty one that was somewhat curvy and grinned.

“I’m really happy to be here, Buck.”

The expression and that stupid nickname got him and Bucky took a sip from the tea, sighing calmly.

“I’m really happy to have you here, Steve.”

The glance they shared was a little too long to be just a glance and for a moment, Bucky felt the urge to wink at Steve again.

But before he could act on that impulse, Steve turned his head towards the bathroom.

“I’m gonna arrange my plants now. They need water.”

“Err, yeah,” Bucky nodded awkwardly, “They sure do.”

Steve smiled and let his tongue flicker, before he jumped up , went to the couch table and grabbed as many saplings as he could carry Disappearing through the bathroom door, he left Bucky with a strangely fast beating heart.


	7. Chapter 7

Bucky balanced over the bathtub that was filled with Steve’s herbs and reached to gently adjust the shower head so he wouldn’t rip off the ivy that had begun climb up the metall.

Only a few days had passed, but his bathroom had become so packed with all different kinds of greens, that it felt more like showering in the Amazonas than a bathroom in Brooklyn.

Because of course Steve hadn’t contained his garden to only the bathtub and narrow windowsills.

The ivy climbed up the walls and over the ceiling, herbs already hung over the edges of the bathtub and occupied parts of the sink, plant pots and all the compensatory kitchen inventory was positioned everywhere Steve saw a suitable spot for a sapling.

Bucky didn’t question how Steve got his plants to grow so fast, he accepted it and to be completely honest - he kind of liked it that way. It always smelled nicely, the plants had an amazing effect on the room temperature and decorative aspect was just undeniable.

The positive effects outweighed the little flaws - like that he had to climb onto the bathtub now, couldn’t close the toilet tank 

Water ran down his calves and dripped onto the small saplings and almost-plants that partly hung over the edges already. Steve carefully made sure to arrange them so that the plants that needed the most sun were either in pots he could place in front of the windows or planted closest to the window so they got their fill of sunshine in the early morning hours.

Bucky massaged the last bits of soap out of his hair and let the water run down his back and legs and drip onto the small plants between his feet.

Shutting off the water, he maneuvered himself carefully onto steady ground again. 

The warm fog still surrounded him and finally, he felt relaxed. A deep sigh rolled over his lips, feeling how the tension rolled off his shoulders and back, the air moist and smelling of Steve’s herb. Bucky had brought himself to finally do the laundry, so his towel was super clean and super fluffy, the bathroom was tidied up for once and-

“BARNES OPEN THE FUCKiNG DOOR OR I SWEAR I’LL KICK IT OPEN!”

A loud banging from the door followed, persistent and leaving no doubt that the threat was definitely not empty.

The tension was back in his back and Bucky grinded his teeth.

Shit.

Bucky wrapped the towel around his waist and rushed to the front door, the loud banging had already brought Steve there. He looked irritated, but before he could ask Bucky what was going on, he opened the door and saw the small, red haired woman standing there furious with rage.

He couldn’t even start with a “Hi”, because she already continued screaming.

“What the actual fuck is wrong with you, тупица, what the actual fuck?!”

“Nice to see you too, Tash-”

“Do you know how often I called you? How many messages I left you? What. The. Fuck?”

She was about to push him, but Bucky was quick to step back and then felt Steve’s hands on his shoulder blades. He made a strange hissing sound, loud and spitting and as Bucky wanted to step closer to calm him down, he noticed Steve had his tail coiled around Bucky’s feet.

So he just watched how Steve crossed his arms and looked Natasha over with suppressed rage.

“Who’s this?”

“Uhhh, Steve, that’s Tasha…”

“She smells of you,” Steve gave back in a dark voice.

Tasha raised one eyebrow and looked Steve over, then examined Bucky with the same expression.

“You didn’t call back because you were busy fucking?”

He heard Steve take a sharp breath, so he laughed nervously, but loudly enough to interrupt Steve.

“Of course not, I just lost my phone - well, actually, it’s broken.”

The piercing gaze she shot Bucky might have actually physically hurt him, if Steve didn’t try to bring himself between Bucky and Natasha, violently quick tilting his head from one side to the other.

“Steve… hey…” Bucky tried to calm him, putting a hand on his back and rubbing gently.

“Tasha is a friend. the friend I told you of. You remember? The blog? And my job here?”

“Hi,” she gave back curtly, still looking them both over.

Steve furrowed his eyebrows and let his tongue flutter over Bucky’s shoulder and neck. even though it tickled, Bucky tried not to react - that had to look strange enough to Natasha as it was. But finally, he felt how Steve’s tail uncurled from his legs and he let his arms fall to his sides.

“Sorry. I… I was confused,” Steve said bluntly.

“I could tell that much, yeah.”

“Tasha-”

“No, she’s right. my behavior was very inappropriate. Sorry. Hi, I’m Steve.”

He extended a hand and after one moment of looking it over, Natasha reached for it.

“Nice, I guess. Natasha. And will you two ask me in or what now?”

“Uhh, sure,” Bucky replied, already jumping aside so Natasha could come in, while Steve shot him an apologetic look.

“At least you’re alright,” Natasha continued, falling into her spot on the sofa, “I really thought I would have to drag your drunk off ass to the hospital. Or worse.”

“I’m fine.”

“Yeah, duh, now i see that too.” She crossed her legs and when Steve arrived behind Bucky, she let her gaze trail up and down his body, “So. Steve. Who are you?”

“I’m, uh-” he glanced at Bucky, “I’m a friend.”

“Pretty new friend. I never heard of you. Never saw you here.”

“We recently just got to know each other,” Bucky explained, looking through the clothes hanging over the armrest for at least a shirt he could put on. Under Natasha’s gaze, he felt horribly naked. But no such luck.

“I fell down a flight of stairs. That’s when I met Steve. But… you know, he’s much better in telling that. I’ll go get changed.”

And before either of them could protest, Bucky trudged into his bedroom, closed the door and leaned against it.

Fuck.

of course Natasha had been worried - normally, they talked every day, at least in the evening and now days without a sign of life.

Natasha was no person of showing her emotions, but when she was worried about a person she was close with - which was a very rare thing for her - that small women could literally punch a hole through a wall.

Bucky took his share of time searching for clothes and getting dressed. He was well aware of the fact that he’d dumped the ungrateful task of coming up with a decent story for Natasha on Steve, but he was the one acting up when Natasha showed up, so Bucky thought it was only fair. Besides, if they’d spent a little time alone together, Natasha might calm down and had the chance to ask Steve all the nagging questions she wanted.

When Bucky was dressed, he thought how else he could draw out the moment he had to go back and face Natasha’s inquiry, but even before he had done more than comb his hair and use his deodorant, a sharp knock resounded from the door.

“Hey, тупица, open up. Nothing in there I haven’t already seen.”

Natasha didn’t wait for Bucky and opened the door herself, leaning into the frame.

“I’m heading home. Now that I know you’re not choking on your own vomit, I can finally enjoy my weekend.”

“Yeah… sorry about that. I thought about setting up that online shop you always talk about so I could get a new phone.”

“Finally, some sense,” she said mockingly, but Bucky knew there was real relief behind that. She worried about Bucky’s finances as much as he did, “Anyway, it was nice talking to blondy, but I think he prefers your company.”

She wiggled her eyebrows and Bucky felt himself blush.

“I… don’t know what you mean.”

Tasha punched him on the upper arm, harder than strictly necessary.

“That boy - your roommate or whatever you call him - he’s got it bad for you. Open your eyes, dammit.”

A warm weight seemed to drop into Bucky’s stomach, his feet feeling light and a warm feeling ran down his spine.

“And he’s fucking weird. But also fucking into you.”

A chuckle made its way up Bucky’s throat. _Fair enough_ , he thought and closed the door.


	8. Chapter 8

Pulling the strap of his backpack a little tighter, Bucky took a deep breath.

This was it.

Today was the day.

He’d promised Steve to go to the beach, which Steve had wanted since he’d seen the Hudson on their way to his cave.

So today they wanted to visit Coney Island. See the beach. Maybe eat some cotton-candy - Steve had been so confused by the name that Bucky would insist on trying.

Steve was so excited he had jumped onto Bucky’s bed this morning - luckily his nerves hadn’t let him sleep that night, which had spared him the shock of waking up eye to eye with a chirping Steve.

They had found a pair of shorts they could cut into shape for Steve and even a pair of flip-flops large enough for Steve to wear.

On the train, they’d been lucky and their train had been empty enough so Bucky could stay calm, but at Coney Island, there were people. The area was swarming with them. Nervously, Bucky clipped and unclipped the front strap of his backpack again and again, while Steve busied himself with marveling.

Bucky wished he could have taken his flask, just for one sip to encourage his bravery, but since Steve had poured away all liquor in his house, he hadn't dared to buy a new bottle. Mostly because he didn't want to explain this to Steve.

They made their way to the sandy coast and Steve put his head back, let the sensations wash over him.

“I love this,” he whispered and just as Bucky took of his backpack, Steve threw himself at Bucky, hugging him from behind.

“Thank you. Thank you…”

The warm feeling he by now associated with Steve bloomed in his chest again and despite his inner tension, Bucky felt himself blush.

He put a hand on Steve’s arm, caressing the skin there with a shy smile.

“You’re… totally welcome.”

A giggling erupted from behind him and Steve let go, spread his arms and ran over the sand towards the water, cheering along the way.

“Bucky! You have to come feel this! It’s so cold!” he shouted when he was ankle deep in the water, looking amazed even from afar.

“This is great! You have to come! Try this, try this!”

“Sure, buddy!” he gave back and took a few steps onto the fine sand, feeling it shift beneath his shoes.

Steve still shouted for him and Bucky was about to reach for his backpack, when a harsh gust made him stumble. Ungraciously, he fell into the sand.

The blow had sprinkled his face with tiny droplets of water and the sand rubbed uncomfortably between his fingers

Steve’s laugh zoomed out somehow, and all the little noises around Bucky… numbed. Instead, the feeling of wet sand between his fingers intensified, dashed to the front of his consciousness.

Wet sand under his feet. A fine splash of water on his skin. Damp, cold air forced itself into Bucky’s lungs with every breath he took.

His heartbeat drummed in his ears. The air seemed to lack oxygen. He smelled pines.

A strange feeling spread in his guts, like he was falling; falling into a cold, bottomless pit, light disappearing faster than his eyes could get used to the dark and finally, there was only black.

Suddenly, a piercing pain shot through his left arm, hot and burning, enlightening his spine and each of his nerves to a angry glowing. The pressure on his chest increased and he felt like drowning until finally, his voice broke through with a loud, throat-tearing scream.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> look at the wonderful picture <3 I love the light so much, the colors are so pretty, look at them hugging. so happy. My boys ♥
> 
> You can find the tumblr post for the final pic right here: cptnsgrs.tumblr.com/post/161966876144/capreversebb-schierlingsbecher-breath-of-fire  
> Maybe drop by and tell my artist how wonderful their art is ♥♥


	9. Chapter 9

The world came back slowly and painfully.

Bucky felt a too familiar ache in his head, making his struggle back to consciousness an even harder fight.

He felt cold and his shoulder still hurt, the rough scratching of sand in his clothes making him feel not only bad but also uncomfortable. Even though he tried to take deep, steady breaths, he had the feeling only a light breeze reached his lungs.

A warm hand was placed on his forehead and as Bucky finally managed to open his eyes the smallest bit, he saw Steve’s big blue eyes directed at him, a worried look on his face.

Another weight was put onto him, warm and somehow comforting. Raising his hand to touch it, he noticed his palm was still full of sand he’d probably kneaded while he was out screaming his soul out. Great. From the back of his mind, he already felt the dark voice rise he associated with reproach and self-loathing, but even before he could hear that first shattering laugh, the tip of Steve’s tail flicked playfully against his fingers.

Bucky’s eyes snapped up to Steve’s face again and the warm smile he met there was so unexpected, that the cold feeling in his guts lost a little of its edge.

“Let’s get you home, alright?”

Bucky didn’t trust his voice, so he just nodded.

Steve helped him up, slowly, as Bucky’s mind still spun and together, they made their way back to the train station.

Being a bit hesitant to get onto the train, Bucky fumbled with the hem of his shirt, but Steve curled his tail around Bucky’s ankle. He was still warm from the sunshine and somehow, that warmth seemed to radiate from him in more than this one way. Without looking up, Bucky let go of his shirt and gently like it was an accident, let his fingers brush against Steve’s clawed hand.

He practically felt the huge smile that spread on Steve’s face at that, the hairs on his neck prickling and a hot, thick feeling running down his spine. A moment later, he took a deep breath and reached for Steve’s hand to hold it.

The whole way home, he held onto Steve’s hand, fumbling a bit with the sharp, black nails or busying himself with caressing the rough, scale-like skin on Steve’s wrists.

Finally at home, Bucky helped him out of his dirty jacket and jeans, brought him into the kitchen, all the while looking confused and worried.

Steve slipped into the red painted chair at the kitchen table and Bucky reached for the tea kettle, but put it away a second later

A soft, purring sound came from Steve and Bucky sighed.

He let himself fall onto the other chair, staring at the rough surface of the kitchen table. Bucky took off the cap he’d been wearing and traced the seams with his fingers.

Neither of them said anything for a while, the shared silence much more comfortable than their silentness on their way home.

But only when Steve extended his hand and Bucky took it anew, he felt the urge to speak.

“When I was a teenager, my parents thought I was… not behaving like they wanted me to. So they paid some people to come to my school and… kidnap me.”

The word felt strange in his mouth, he had never referred to what had happened to him like that out loud - only in his mind. Steve’s eyes widened at that, but he didn’t say anything and kept listening.

“They brought me far away from home and treated me like I was a criminal. They wanted to shock me so much that it would trigger some sort of… change in my behavior. But I was stubborn and didn’t like what they did to me. I was brought to a camp, where I had to do a lot of physical work and follow very strict rules. A lot of what they wanted from my was based on something a little like a religion.”

Steve furrowed his eyebrows and Bucky started drawing circles onto the table so he didn’t have to look at him.

“They call themselves Hydra. Their _service_ for teens is called the Red Room - it’s something like a cult. They train you to obey their rules and get into a physical condition they find adequate. Once you’re there, they suggest a lot of bullshit. Like you’re not actually worth something outside their community and only have value as a member. So a lot of people stay even after they’re off age and are legally free to go. That happened to me too.”

“You.. didn’t leave?”

“I had the feeling I couldn’t. Everything I was good for was working for them, that’s what it felt like.”

Bucky shrugged and he heard a small, sympathetic whine from Steve.

“Tasha was there too - that’s where we met. She isn’t one to follow rules she doesn’t like. She helped me get my head out of their twisted mindset, even though she was almost a kid at that time. We grew really close and one day I told her I wanted to escape. She said okay and that if I made it, she’d follow me somehow.”

“So you ran away?”

“Not… kinda… I tried to escape but I hurt myself really badly. My arm was a mess, but since I had tried to run away, the medical treatment I received was.. lacking. They allowed me to go to the hospital when they feared for my life - people dying in your facility is really bad publicity.”

Bucky chuckled dryly, not a trace of amusement in that sound.

“The doctors only had one option: amputation. Natasha found me in the hospital and before they could bring us back, we got out of there. Since then, we make it on our own.

Steve looked at him for a long moment, before he sighed and rubbed his temples.

“So.. that’s why you don’t like to be outside?”

Bucky nodded.

“Why didn’t you just tell me you didn’t want to go outside?”

“Because I wanted,” Bucky gave back with a sigh.

“I wanted to show you a bit of New York, you were so excited and so I got excited and you were so happy and…” Bucky halted, suddenly feeling a lump in his throat and an odd pressure on his chest. He continued in an even lower voice, “And I like seeing you happy.”

He bit his lips, nervous that Steve would start laughing, but even though he waited for that to happen, it didn’t.

Instead, he felt a warm palm on his arm, caressing the light red scratches from Bucky’s panic attack on the beach.

“Well… I like to see you happy too.”

Their hands found each other on the table automatically.

“Hey, can I show you something?” Steve asked into the silence that had settled. As soon as Bucky had nodded, Steve rose from his chair and gently urged Bucky to do the same.

He led him into the living room, to the big frame Bucky had made for Steve’s treasure.

He bent down and lifted the blanket thrown over it so Bucky could see beneath it.

There still were thousand of tabs scattered into the frame like the world’s strangest sandbox. But when Steve dug into the tabs and pushed a layer of them aside, Bucky saw his broken phone, the curvy liquor bottle and a few of Bucky’s socks hidden in there as well.

“I guess what I wanna say is… You’re very important to me. And I like to be around you. I like being here. I don’t know if that’s a help somehow but… I wanted to get that off my chest.

From the corner of his eye, Bucky saw Steve’s cheeks turn pink. The warm feeling was back again, this time making his heart flutter and he entwined his fingers with Steve’s.

“Wow,” he whispered, still overwhelmed by the sensations racing through his body, “Thanks for sharing this.”

Steve smiled and even though it was the most adorable sight Bucky could imagine, he yawned.

“I am deadbeat. Let’s just go to bed.”

“Okay.”

“Would you… sleep in my bed tonight?” Bucky asked in a low voice, grip on Steve’s hand tightening.

A purring sound came from Bucky. “Yes.”


	10. Chapter 10

The next time Bucky opened his eyes, the sun was already shining, golden rays drawing patterns onto the walls of his bedroom.

Steve was curled against him; tail wrapped around Bucky’s left leg, one arm thrown over his chest, face nuzzled as close as he could get with the antlers.

A smile tugged at the corners of his mouth.

He couldn’t remember when he’d last slept that well. Or felt so completely at ease.

Slowly turning his body towards him, he put his arm around Steve’s waist and gently let their foreheads touch.

With a flutter of his human eyelids, Steve started moving a bit, a soft growl being the answer to being woken.

Bucky chuckled, voice still rough with sleep, and pulled Steve into a real hug.

“Wake up, firebug.”

Another growl, muffled by a pillow followed, but then Steve’s eyes opened sleepily.

“Is it morning already?”

“Yep,” Bucky whispered, the smile not leaving his face.

Steve shifted and then stretched his limbs and arched his back, until he fell limply onto the mattress, rubbed his eyes and curled his tail.

“Good morning then,” he whispered back and turning his head towards Bucky, he opened his eyes fully.

“Mornin’” Bucky shuffled a little closer and Steve immediately snuggled against his chest, his tongue darting out the tiniest bit.

“Do you know that you smell best in the morning?”

“No. do you know that you’re adorable when you growl?”

Steve chuckled and Bucky brought up his hand, caressing Steve’s cheek.

At the touch, Steve looked him directly in the eyes, big blue irises completely focused on Bucky.

It was like the air was crackling. 

Bucky leaned towards him a bit, the scent of Steve now fully engulfing him - fumy, mixed with something fresh and herbal that reminded him of their garden - and suddenly, he felt his heartbeat in his throat and chest. When he put a hand on Steve’s shoulder, he flinched a bit and immediately, Bucky pulled back.

“Sorry! Too… too much?”

“No,” Steve shook his head, ”Just… I think I know what you wanna do and I never… did that…”

Bucky saw how a pink hue spread on Steve’s cheeks and chin and gently touched it.

“But… you wanna?”

After a second, Steve nodded.

Bucky smiled and Steve gave it back much, much smaller.

Slowly, Bucky turned Steve’s head up a little, always waiting for him to resist the tiniest bit and make Bucky stop.

But it didn’t happen.

That gorgeous face fully came into Bucky’s view and he felt how his smile widened, saw the expression mirrored on Steve’s face and again leaned in a bit.

Steve’s breath smelled of warm black tea and his bright blue eyes were almost closed, fixed on Bucky’s mouth. With his thumb, he caressed Steve’s bottom lip, before slowly bringing their mouths together.

His lips felt warm and soft, his breath almost hot on his cheek. Steve slung his arms around him and hummed into the kiss; at first only slow, small pecks that grew into the delicate pressure of lips moving against each other.

Quickly, Steve got a little braver and let his teeth graze Bucky’s lips, careful to only nib and keep the touch playful.

A hot, prickling feeling bubbled up in Bucky’s chest and melted down his whole back and pooled somewhere behind stomach.

When they pulled apart again, Steve’s eyes shimmered and Bucky’s heart raced in his chest. They stared at each other for a long moment, amazed and happy, their silent bliss accompanied by the swooshing of Steve’s wagging tail, which Bucky noticed had turned purple with the blush.

They shared a goofy smile and Bucky pulled Steve close again, kissing the corners of his mouth. Again Steve let his tongue dart out, the flat, split tip tickling over Bucky’s cheek.

“Stop it,” Bucky growled playfully and Steve gave a hissing sound from deep in his chest back.

Bucky chuckled throatily at that and Steve joined him, rubbing his head against Bucky’s collar bone.

“I think I’m in love with you.”

“I think I’m in love with you too.”

“Wow.”

“Yeah.”

A moment of comfortable silence settled between them. Bucky let his hand run up and down Steve’s spine, feeling the bony bumps leading down to his tail, while Steve nibbled at Bucky’s neck.

“I guess I can stop calling you my roommate and start calling you my… boyfriend?”

A snickering close to his ear, a kiss on the juncture between neck and shoulder and gentle nudge from one of Steve’s antlers as he nodded.

“Dragon mate would be weird wouldn’t it?”

Now it was Bucky’s turn to laugh. He peppered Steve’s cheek with kisses and followed Steve’s spine down to where his tail began, tracing the big, rough scales.

“I guess at this point everything would be weird, firebug.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My tumblr is [Schierlingsbecher](http://schierlingsbecher.tumblr.com/) if you wanna chat or follow me <3
> 
> Also, feedback is always much appreciated ♥
> 
> Thank you for reading ♥

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading ♥


End file.
